Windmill-regulator.



No. 733,056. PATENTED JULY 7, 1903 J. M. LOWE.

WINDMILL REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 1903.

N0 MODEL, 2 SHEETS-$11331 11.

\ Wflgeisszs 1 32 1 10! PATBNTED JULY 7,1903.

J. M., LOWE.

WINDMILL REGULATOR.

AI'PLIUATION FILED MAR. 27, 1903.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

; drawings, forming a part of this specification,

no. taaose.

Patented Jul 7, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. LOWE, OF BUTLER, INDIANA-.

WlNDMlLL-REGULATOR;

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,056, dated 3111; 7,1903. Application filed March 27,1908; Serial No. 149.887. (No modeli) To all whom it may concern.

Be it known thatI, JOHN M. LOWE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Butler, in the county of Dekalb and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Windmill-Regulator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to regulating attachments for windmills, and more especially to, attachments designed to be operated by the level of water in the tank filled by the windmillto throw the windmill out of gear and cause it to stop pumping when the tank is full and to throw the windmill into gear when the water in the tank sinks to a certain predetermined level.

The object of the invention is to provide a windmill-regulating attachment of very compact structure which is adapted to be secured to one of the corner-posts of the tower at a point above the tank on the tower, thus shortening connections between the regulating attachment and the windmill mechanism and insuring greater certainty of operation than is possible when the regulating attachment is supported at the bottom of the tower.

\Vith the above and other objects in view,

which will be disclosed as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction andcombi nation of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and shown in the. accompanying in which corresponding parts are designated by the same characters of reference throughout, it being understood that changes maybe made in the form, proportions, andeX-act mode,

of assemblage of the parts therein shown without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. In the. drawings, Figure l is a view chiefly in elevation of an upper portion of a windmillframe broken away to show the interior construction of the mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a'view in section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow. 4

c is a diagrammatic view showing the conn ection of the regulating device with the float when the tank is at the foot of the windmill-tower.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the connections'between the float and the regulating device when the tank is at some distance from the foot of the tower. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bracket for attaching the'regnlator to angle-iron corner-posts. Fig. 7 is a modified form of bracket for useon wooden cornerposts. Fig. 8 is a detail showing the clamp for attachment to the pump-rod. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the bracket indicated at Fig. 10 is a perspective view of 't aching the regulating device to towers of other constructions will hereinafter be dc scribed as modifications.

4 4 designate brackets provided on the rear surfaces with a plurality of shoulders 5 for the engagement of tower-posts of different sizes. These shoulders 5 arepreferably provided with serrations 6 in order to insure better grip uponthe tower-posts when in position. Each of the brackets 5 is provided at its ends with slots for the passage of a bent clamping-bolt 7, each end of which is thread ed as shown, for the engagement of a nut 8 and the angleof which will be determined by the form of the tower-post to be encircled thereby. On the front surface each of the brackets 4 has a pair of projecting lugs 9, preferably having rounded ends, as shown,and pierced by openings 10 for the passage of bolts by means of which the mechanism of the regulating attachment is secured in position, on

the brackets.

cured tothe lugs 9 by means of bolts 12, passed through suitable openings in the plates 11 and through the openings 10, provided in the lugs. 1

The plates 11 are placed on the outer surfaces of the lugs 9 to provide sufficient spacebetween the plates for the movement therein of mechanism presently to be described. On its interior surface each of the plates 11 is provided near the top and bottom with a pair of guide lugs 13, having the openings therebctween lying in vertical plane. Slidably mounted in the guideway formed by lugs 13 is arack-bar 14, comprising, preferably, a serrated rib 15, lateral guide-ribs 16 for passage between the lugs 13, and a rear strengtheningrib 17. The serrations on the rib do not extend entirely to the top of the bar, and above the topmost serration the rib is reduced in width for a purpose hereinafter to be explained. At the top thereof the rib 15 is provided with a transverse lug 1S, beneath which is the transverse opening 19, in which is mounted a block of rubber 20 and a small plate21 of wrought iron or steel, which lies beneath the rubber. The. rack-bar extends slightly above the transverse lug 19 and terminates inarounded end pierced by an opening for-the passage of awire 22, which forms themeans for throwing the windmill into and out of gear.

The plates 11 are provided at their forward margins with projections 23 24, pierced by openings for the passage of bolts 25 26. R0-

tatably mounted on the bolt 25 is a lever 27,

having a bifurcated end, between the parts of which mounted on a pivot 28 is a pawl 29, provided on its rear surface with an enlargement 30, which causes the pawl to swing The pawl 32 is also adapted normally to e11- has its movement in that space limited by the length of slots 44 45, through which pass the studs 41 42. WVhen the studs 41 42 are at the lower ends of the slots 44 45, the bar 43 lies in contact with guide-lugs 13 on one of the plates 11; but when the studs 41 42 are at the upper ends of slots 4445 the bar 43 is brought into contact with lugs 31 and 34 upon pawls 29 and 32, forcing. said pawls out of engage ment with the rack-bar. The links 39 and 40 are of slightly-different form, the upper link having a pointed terminal, curved on its upper surface and flat below, for engagement with a latch-pawl 46, carried by the bolt 26, upon which is supported the pawl 32. The latch-pawl 4.6 consists of an arm 47, provided with a notch 47 and a lever-arm 48, having a laterally-projecting lug 49. The link 40 is provided at its free end with a laterally-pro jecting lug 49, which engages with a pivoted lever-arm 50, mounted on a bolt 38,which supports the link. The lever-arm 50 carries a weight 51 upon the forward end thereof, which is adjustable in position by means of a clampin g-bolt which secures the two sections of the weight with the lever-arm 50. The play of thearm 50 is limited in upward direction by the lug 49 on the link 40 and in a downward direction by a projection 53 on a boss 54, formed integral with plate 11, over which the lever-arm moves.

Bolted to the plate 11, over which move the links 39 and 40, is a bar 55, which extends transversely across the plate 11 at the top and projects forward some distance beyond the margin of the plate. Pivotally mounted on the bar 55, at the forward end thereof, is an arm 56, the rearward end of which is connected by a link 57 with the lever-arm 50, and connected with pivoted arm 56 at its forward end is a rod 58, extending downward and supporting a float 59, which maybe of any suitable form and which rests upon the surface of the water in the tank 3, supported in the tower 1 of the windmill.

- It will be seen that the movements of the float 59 up and down with the rise and fall of the water-level in the tank will cause the rocking of the arm 56 on itspivot and through the link 57 will impart movement to the lever-arm 50, which will be designated as a trip-lever. In case it should be desirable to impart movement to the trip-lever in the direction ordinarily caused by the downward movement of the float 59 by other means than said float such movement may be produced by means of a wire or cord 60, extending down from the opposite end of the trip-lever. In order that motion may be imparted to the lever-arm 57 from the reciprocations of clamp 62, consisting of the angular body portion 63 and the bent clamping-bolt 64, which is provided at its ends with nuts to bind the clamping-bolt in position in slots provided therefor inthe body portion 63. At the juncture of the two sides of the body portion 63 of the clamp is provided a slot 65, through which the lever-arm 27 passes, the slot 65 being of sufficient size to permit the necessary play of the lever 27 therein without binding, and so obviate the necessity of providing a pivotal connection or other means whereby the reciprocation of the pump-rod may produce an oscillating motion in the lever 27. To prevent any possibility of the slipping of the clamp 62 on the pump-rod,the body portion 63 is provided on its rear sura as applied to the tower of a windmill at a point just above the tank supported in the tower and having the float whose movements opcrate with the mechanism suspended in the tank in the tower. In order to adapt the regulator for use with tanks at a distance from the tower, it is necessary to substitute for the rod 58 a wire 66, (shown in Fig. 5,) which passes downward from the end of trip-lever 50 and connects with one arm of a bell-crank lever 67, as shown, the other arm of the bell-crank lever being connected by a wire 68 with the bell-crank lever 69, supported at the top of the tank 70, which is shown at some distance from the foot of the tower on astandard, (designated 71.) Connected with the other arm of the bell-crank lever 69, by means of a wire 72, is a float 7 3, similar to float 59. l

In describing the attachment of the regulator to the windmill-tower it has been assumed in the previous description that the tower is formed of angle-iron posts, such be ing the common construction; but when the tower has wooden posts a somewhat differentmode of attachment is resorted to. In-

stead of the bracket 4 with the shoulders 5 for engagement with the edges of angle-irons of different width there is provided a bracket the tank, the water level in which controls the action of the regulator, be mounted in the tower or on the ground at some distance from the foot thereof. Consequently a sin gle explanation'of the operation of the regulator seems suflicient. that tank 3 is full of water and the float 59 i is therefore in its uppermost position. The

weight 51 on trip-lever 52 will cause the triplever to turn until the forward portion thereof isin contact with the lug 53, which limits its 'downward movement, and the rear portion will engage with the lug 49 onthe catch-pawl to throw it out of engagement with link 39. Links 39 and 40 will move downward, causing the bar 43 to move rearward into contact with the lugs 13 on the inner surface of the plate 11, thus permitting the pawls 29 and 32 p to engage with the rack on bar 14. Previous to this action of the mechanism the bar 14 will have been at the upward limit of its path of movement and the mechanism of the windmill will have been in gear to reciprocate the Let it be assumed tinue to operate until it fills the tank.

pump-rod. When the bar 43, is shifted rearward, allowing the pawls 29 and 32 to engage the rack-bar 14, each reciprocation of the pump-rod will force the rack-bar downward some distance, pawl 29 being effective to force the bar down and the pawl 32 effective to prevent its return as pawl 29 moves upward under the action of the pump-rod 66. It will. be seen that a few reciprocations of the pump-rod, which will not materially raise the level of the water in the tank, will force the rack-bar down until the pawl 29 no longer engages with the serrations thereof, but lies in contact with the smooth surface above said serrations. When the rack-bar reaches this position, the windmill will have been thrown Out of gear by the wire 22, and the pumpingrod will no longer be reciprocated ,As long as the rack-bar is at its lowermost position there can be no operation of thepump-rod and'no water will of course be pumped into the tank. Ordinarily this condition will continue until the descent of the float 59 with the level of water in the tank to a predetermined point sufficiently low for the upward movement thereby imparted to the weight end of the trip-lever to lift link 40 until the bar 43 engages with lugs 31 and 34 to force pawls 29 and 32 out of engagement with the rack-bar.

As soon as this action occurs the rack-bar will be automatically drawn upward by mechanism not shown and forming no part of this invention, and the windmill will automatically be thrown into gear to reciprocate the pump rod. When bar 43 is lifted by links 39 and 40 into engagement with lugs 31 and 34 and forces the pawls 29 and 32 out of engagement with the rack-bar, thus permitting the rackbar to rise and allow the windmill-gearing to be thrown into mesh to reciprocate the pump-rod, the catch-pawl 47 will automatically be brought into engagement with link 39 to hold it in raised position until the descent of the weight end of the trip-lever causesthe rise of the opposite end of said lever and forces the catch-pawl out of engagement with link 39. As long as link 39 is engaged by the catch- -pawl it will be impossible for pawls 29 and 32 to engage with the rack-bar to force it downward and throw the mill out of gear. Consequently until the catch-pawl is thrown out of engagement with link 39 by the action of the lever the pump will continue to operate, and since the catch-pawl is not thrown out of engagement by the action of the trip-lever until the descent of the weighted end thereof to its lowermost position the pump will con- If it is desired to refill the tank before the \vater level therein descends sufficiently for the downward travel of float 59 to cause the release of the rack-bar, the rack-bar may always be released by pull upon the wire or cord 60, attached to the trip-lever at the end opposite the weight 51. end of the trip-lever, lifting the link 40 and This will force up the weight causing the bar 43 to engage with the lugs on the pawls 29 and 32 to force said pawls out of engagement with the rack-bar.

The provision of the block of rubber and movable steel plate in the upper end of the rack-bar mentioned in an early paragraph of this specification is made to take up the jar which would occur if wire 22 should break and let the rack-bar drop suddenly. As the rack-bar is made of cast iron and is somewhat brittle, such a jar might easily snap off the upper end of the rack-bar if no cushioning device were provided therefor; but the block of rubber and steel base-plate above mentioned, which take up but little space and add practically nothing to the cost of the apparatus, completely prevent breakage from this cause.

Havingthus described the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a windmill-regulator the combination I of a supporting-frame, a reciprocating rackbar, a pivoted lever mounted on said frame having one end connected with the pump-rod, a pawl mounted on the other end of said lever and en gaging said rack, a check-pawl mounted on said frame, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally-movable bar carried by said links and adapted to engage with said pawls to force them out of engagement with said rack-bar, and means engaging one of said links for imparting movement thereto to bring the said rack-bar into contact with said pawls when the water in the tank is low.

2. In a windmill-regulator the combination of a supporting-frame, a rack-bar mounted to reciprocate therein, a lever pivotally mounted in said frame, having one end secured to the pump-rod and having at the other end a pivoted pawl adapted to engage said rack-bar, a check-pawl pivotally mounted on said frame and adapted normally to engage said rack-bar, a pair of links mounted on said frame to swing thereon, a laterally-movable bar carried by said links and adapted to be brought into contact with said pawls to force them out of engagement with said rack-bar, a lug on one of said links, and a pivoted lever adapted to engage said lugwhen the water-level in the tank descends.

3. The combination in a windmill-regulator of a supporting-frame, a rack-bar mounted to reciprocate in said frame, a lever mounted on said frame and connected at one end with the pump-rod, a pawl provided on the other end of said lever and normally engaging said rackbar, a check-pawl mounted on said frame and normally engaging said rack-bar, a laterally-- movable bar adapted to engage said pawls and force them out of engagement with said rackbar, a lever pivotally mounted on said frame adapted when the water in the tank is low to move said bar and cause the disengagement of "isaote the said pawls, and an automatic catch to hold said bar in engagement with said pawls and keep said pawls out of engagement with the rack-bar until the level of the water in the tank rises to a predetermined height.

4. In a windmill-regulator, the combination of a supporting-frame, a rack-bar mounted to reciprocate therein, a lever mounted on said frame and connected at one end with the pump-rod, a pawl mounted at theother end of said lever and adapted to engage said rackbar, a catch-pawl mounted on the frame and adapted normally to engage said rack-bar, a pair of links mounted on said frame to swing thereon, a latera1ly-movable bar carried by said links and adapted to engage said pawls to force them out of engagement with said rack-bar, and an automatic catch-pawl adapt= ed to engage with one of said links to lock the same in position when said laterally-movable bar forces said pawls out of engagement with the rack-bar.

5. Ina windmill-regulator the combination of a supporting-frame, a rack-bar mounted to reciprocate in said frame, a lever pivotally mounted on said frame and having one end connected with the pump-rod, a pawl mounted at the other end of said lever and adapted to engage said rack-bar, a check pawl mounted on said frame and adapted normallyto engage said rack-bar, a pair of links mounted on said frame to swing thereon, a laterally-movable bar carried by said links and adapted to engage said pawls to force them out of engagement with said rack-bar, a trip-lever adapted to engage one of said links to impart movement thereto to cause the disengagement of said pawls with said rack-bar, an automatic catch-pawl adapted to engage one of said links to lock it in position when the pawls are out of engagement with said rack-bar, a lug provided on said catch-pawl and adapted to be engaged by said trip-lever when the tank is full to throw said catch-pawl out of engagement with one of said links.

6. The combination with a windmill-regulator of the class described, of a supportingbracket comprising a member provided with a plurality of shoulders to engage tower-posts of different sizes, and a bent clamping-bolt adapted to encircle the tower-post and force it into engagement with a pair of said shoulders.

7. The combination with a windmill-regulator of the class described of a supporting-bracket having a plurality of shoulders adapted to engage tower-posts of different sizes and having serrations provided on said shoulders to insure more secure engagement with a tower-post, and a suitable clampingbolt adapted to force said serrated shoulders into engagement with a tower-post.

8. The combination in a windmill-regulator IIO of a supporting-frame, a rack-bar vertically slidable in said frame, a cushion in the upper end of said rack-bar comprising a block of my own I have hereto affixed my signature in rubber and a metallic face-plate mounted in the presence of two Witnesses. an opening in said rack-bar, a Wire connecting said rack-bar and the Windmill meohan-l. JOHN LOWE 5 ism, and means for forcing said rack-bar Witnesses.

downward. W. M. THOMPSON,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as CALVIN KING. 

